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Educator and Parent of an infant and 4 year oldWritten byJason S.March 18, 2018

age 9+

Classic 80's fantasy

This movie was a favorite growing up as I always loved fantasy and mythical characters. It also has complex issues and a great story. That being said, the CommonSense review is pretty spot on. I have a 4 year old who begs me to watch this movie (because unicorns) but there is no way I will let her until she's AT LEAST 7, if not 9 years of age. The witch's menagerie, the harpy, the red bull, and the skeleton are all scary for little kids, and the part where the tree is turned into a woman with huge breasts always weirded me out a little. As a whole the movie is great, but definitely not for the youngest kiddos.

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this is not for kids

this movie is not very kid friendly at all! why? number one. there is female nudity, boobs, bottoms, number two there's cursing. five uses of f--k four uses of shit uncountable uses of c--t fifteen uses of ass and of minor swear words and even six uses of the N word.

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Sexy stuff

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I was terrified in 1982

I was 5 when I saw this in theatres in 1982. Decided to rewatch it on Netflix last night as I remember being terrified. Now I see why. Holy crap, no wonder I started having night terrors as a young kid.... a sharp-clawed Harpie that kills it's witchy captor (and eats her??), a seething flaming red bull intent on killing the *last* unicorn, all the unicorns but the last that have been drowned in the sea by a creepy old King living in a decrepit castle. Definitely not made for little ones... maybe in the 80's when things were different, but my nervous system remembers being frightened. Also meh, it's not that great a movie.

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Violence & scariness

This review...

Absolutely wonderful movie, BUT - this is not for kids!

The Last Unicorn has been one of my all-time favorite movies since I was about 11-12 years old. Even now, almost 2 decades later, this is still one of my favorites. It is whimsical, bittersweet, and will tug on your heart-strings; it delves deeply into themes that will resonate strongly with adults, such as the main villain being someone who suffers with apathy and depression, and his villainous actions stem from that struggle to overcome his own sorrow. You can understand and pity the villains, rather than simply seeing them as the 'evil to be defeated.' Even the unicorn pities him. There is a love story, but it (SPOILER) ends in separation, because the unicorn knows that she must return to her true form and save her species, therefore forever dividing her from the man she fell in love with as a human.
BUT PARENTS, MAKE NO MISTAKE. THIS IS NOT A KIDS MOVIE. There is a stoned/druggie butterfly, a twisted woman so obsessed with her own fame and infamy she willingly lets herself be torn apart by a harpy and laughs the whole time, a lonely skeleton who died from alcoholism and spends his undead existence desperately trying to get drunk again, a tree that gets turned into a big-breasted woman...thing and tries to suffocate a man with her boobs, etc. There is scary imagery - the harpy killing the old woman, the absolutely terrifying Red Bull, etc.
Despite the hilariously incorrect 'G' rating, this movie is very much an ADULT CARTOON.
But, please don't let that stop you from enjoying it. This is a lovely movie with many deep themes, and ends on a bittersweet note that will linger in your mind for years. It has some amazing lines, too:
"It's a very rare person who is taken for what he truly is."
"I am a little afraid to go home. I have been mortal, and some part of me is mortal yet. I am no longer like the others, for no unicorn was ever born who could regret, but I now I do. I regret."
"No. I cannot change you into something you are not."
"A happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story."
"But what if there isn't a happy ending?"
"There are no happy endings, because nothing ends."

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beautiful film

I used to watch this film as a kid, and it didn't scare me at all back then, I loved it, I used to rent it from the video store over and over. As an adult watching it now, I'm not sure I understand the outrage that some people have about it, I find it more compelling and beautiful than I did when I was a child and didn't understand what it was really about.. your strength of character, your commitment, your persistence, even though life can get hard and ugly, and maybe not work out the way you want it to, but have a conscience, and fight for what you believe in. To all of the people complaining about breasts in this movie, you are missing the point.

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